House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) appeared to press House Republicans to “hold the line” against any legislative measures to compel the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Politico reported Tuesday.
Johnson’s comments were made during a meeting Tuesday morning among House GOP leadership as Republicans struggle to save face amid growing scrutiny over President Donald Trump’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender alleged to have maintained a “client list” of powerful figures for blackmail purposes.
“House Republicans have lost control of the floor over their Jeffrey Epstein blow-up, and they’re struggling to chart a path out of the crisis,” wrote Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill.
“GOP leaders are talking with Trump administration officials, searching for ways to appease Republican members incensed over the lack of public information and Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the matter broadly.”
The meeting comes just a day after House Republicans abruptly shut down legislative business Monday to block a vote on a measure that would compel the Trump administration to release additional files on Epstein, largely supported by Democrats, but as well by a handful of Republicans.
With many of Trump’s most diehard supporters frustrated with the president’s refusal to disclose sufficient information on Epstein, GOP lawmakers have been caught in a balancing act of trying to both please their base, while not drawing the ire of Trump, who has called theories around Epstein a Democrat-manufactured “hoax.”
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told Politico that he had never seen his Republican colleagues in such panic.
“It is extraordinary that they’re so scared shitless over these Epstein files, that they’ve done something that I’ve never seen happen before,” McGovern said. “I mean, basically they just shut down for the week.”
Trump has already made efforts to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein’s case, as well as had made contact with Epstein associate and accomplice Ghislane Maxwell – serving a 20-year sentence on human trafficking charges – in an effort to appease critics. While the trove of documents related to Epstein remain under lock at the Justice Department, however, and with House Republicans continuing to stonewall efforts to unseal them, scrutiny will likely continue to mount.